This invention relates to the field of gaming and gambling, and, in particular, to video gambling devices and games that offer the player the opportunity to play multiple hands on a single game cycle and give the player the choice to pick the hands they wish to play at a given time.
Gambling or gaming devices have been in use for decades and were originally introduced in the 19th century. Major advancements in technology of gaming devices occurred when microprocessors were introduced in the field. Advancements were divided into two major segments in their development. The first advancement was mechanical spinning reels and the second was use of xe2x80x9cCRTxe2x80x9d displays or animated displays of reels, cards, keno boards, and xe2x80x9c21 xe2x80x9d games. The emergence of such microprocessor devices has opened a vast set of possibilities to gambling device designers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,795 (Saxton et al.) describes what is believed to be the first microprocessor slot machine.
Another major advancement used microprocessors and a software program to adjust the odds of achieving any particular combination or game outcome. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,419 (Moody) describes a mechanical reel slot machine controlled by a microprocessor. The software program allowed for the control of the reels and the varying of odds of achieving any particular combination of symbols. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,451 (Pajak et al.) describes a gambling device using mechanical reels but is controlled by a microprocessor.
Microprocessors along with the lowering prices of color monitors allowed the expansion of the second largest area of gambling devices. These devices, known as xe2x80x9cVideo Gamesxe2x80x9d included video slots, 21, bingo, keno, and poker machines. The largest portion of this segment of the gaming field is the video poker machine.
Historically, video poker has simulated an actual game of cards by using a standard 52 card deck (53 if a joker is used). Thus, the games"" payout percentage is controlled by two factors. The number and type of defined winning combinations and the amount that will be awarded if those hands are obtained.
These video poker games would randomly shuffle the deck of cards and deal five cards to the player. The approximate probability of obtaining any of the following winning hands in the initially dealt cards is listed below.
However, video poker games provide the opportunity to xe2x80x9choldxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdiscardxe2x80x9d any number of the player""s initially dealt cards and draw new cards from the remaining cards left in the deck. Therefore, the odds of obtaining a winning hand on the draw are dependent on the initially dealt cards, and thus removed from the finite number of cards in the deck. The player can therefore calculate, or make an approximation, of the odds of drawing a winning hand depending on which cards they decide to retain or discard.
The sizes of the awards that are offered on poker machines are a function of two items, the winning combinations and the amount awarded for those combinations. Thus, if a large amount was offered for a Royal Flush with five coins, the amount paid for lessor combinations must be reduced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,735 (Hamano et al.) calculated all possible drawn hands of poker. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,023 (Wood), the payable changes with the cards that are being held. This was good for the players but the casinos lost the additional money earned from improper play. U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,781 (Wood et al.) allowed the player to stop the game before the draw and be awarded a higher pay for an existing winning combination. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,593 (Wood et al.), the player was allowed to swap the cards used in a particular poker hand. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,619 (Wood et al.), players were allowed to re-arrange an existing poker hands into sub hands. U.S. Pat. No. 44,651,997 (Wood) allowed the player to purchase a sixth card to add to an existing five card poker hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,335 (Moody) allowed the player to play multiple 21 hands on the video screen that were duplicated from the first hand dealt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,873 (Moody) offered the player the opportunity to play two or three hands that were duplicated from the first hand dealt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,916 (Moody) increased the number of hands that could be played to five hands that were dealt from a single deck. Again these hands were duplicated from the first hand dealt. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,531,448 and 5,489,101 gave the players the opportunity to play a three or five card hand using a community set of cards of either six or eight cards that were used by all the players.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,374 (Breeding) allows a player to make multiple bets on a single hand and additionally allows the player to withdraw a portion of those bets during game play. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,066 (Moody), the device is for a card game that has at least two to xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d rows of card hands. The player then determines which cards to hold in a specific hand and those hold cards are duplicated in all the other hands. The cards held would be displayed in the same positions in all the other hands in a vertical display. The game could draw all the replacement cards from a single deck or use a different deck for each row of cards. It also allows a player to see one of the dealt hands before the player bets on any additional hands that are offered. It also allows the option of displaying a different number of cards or amount of hands and allows the player the option to bet on those hands after the deal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,618 (Netley et al.) describes a device that allows a two-tiered poker game that displays two separate poker hands to the player, and are displayed in different colors on the video display. If the first hand is won, the player is allowed to wager that bet on the second hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,731 (Feola) describes a method of play that includes dealing a multiple amount of hands and allowing the player to bet on the hand they believe will be the winning hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,873 (Moody) describes a method of play that allows two or three rows of poker hands to be displayed on the screen. The player is allowed to place a wager on one or all three hands after the hands are dealt face up. The player then selects the cards that their want to hold from the first hand and those cards are duplicated to all the other hands that have bets wagered on them. Then replacement cards are dealt to each hand and payouts are awarded to those hands that end with hands that are classified as winning poker hands. U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,916 (Moody) deals an initial five-card poker hand, and the cards are displayed in five locations. Any matching cards in the first hand are stacked together in a pile and replacement cards are dealt to replace the missing cards. This process continues until there are no matching ranks within the hand. The player then decides which cards to hold or discard. Replacement cards are dealt to those card locations that were discarded. At that time, the hands are evaluated to determine what hands have achieved winning combinations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,950 (Moody) describes a card game that displays up to three five-card hands. Each of the five-card hands are formed into a xe2x80x9c21 xe2x80x9d and stud poker hand with bets on each. Awards are paid for each of the hands within a given hand group if certain conditions have been achieved. U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,614 (Potter et al.) describes a card game that may be played against a banker""s hand or a predetermined payout schedule. The player receives an initial hand and decides which of a set of hand ranking rules they will play the hand against. U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,393 (Dreger) describes a multiple wager game that is played by a dealer and player. The three dealer""s cards and the two player""s cards form a hand. The player can place a wager on the first card of the dealers. That card must fall within a predetermined range of cards. Once the dealer""s second card is revealed, the player has the option of withdrawing the second wager. U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,892 (Breeding) is a multi-tiered wagering game that consists of an initial bet and an optional second bet. The dealer receives two cards and the player receives three cards. The player is now given the option to remove one part of his bet. After the first card is exposed, the player may remove a second portion of his bet. After the dealer""s second card is exposed, the wagers are resolved. There is also an option of have a bonus jackpot for the second bet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,915 (Kadlic) allows a multi hand game. This game would use four hands, with two cards being dealt face up and three cards dealt face down. The player would then select the hand they wish to play. The player may then hold or discard any cards they wish to in the hand and a payoff is awarded for certain hand combinations.
All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
A method of playing a card game is provided which includes the steps of providing a video display, providing an attract screen that includes a list of selectable card games, providing a game screen that includes several card hand locations, and selecting one of the selectable card games for each of the card hand locations (or selecting a prearranged group of card hands or using the groups that are predetermined by machine). The method further includes providing a means to bet at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing a first hand of cards at a first of the card hand locations from a first deck of cards and determining a mathematical value for the first hand of cards based on the probability and amount of potential payoff. The method then includes the steps of dealing hands of cards at all remaining card hand locations with each hand having cards from a separate (or a subset of a) deck of cards (or like display) and each hand (or like display) having a mathematical value equal to or greater than the mathematical value of the first hand (or like display). The method then allows the player to hold and draw cards in accordance with the selected card game. Finally, the player is paid in accordance with a pay table associated with the value of each hand played. Optionally, the player may select one or more of the hands of cards to continue play after all hands are dealt, and the player may move the bet associated with each hand to the selected one or more other hands.
In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a card game is provided which includes the steps of providing a plurality of card hand locations, betting at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing a first hand of cards at a first of the card hand locations from a deck of cards, determining a mathematical value for the first hand of cards, dealing hands of cards at all remaining card hand locations, each hand having a mathematical value about equal to the mathematical value of the first hand, and crediting the player in accordance with a pay table associated with the value of each hand played.
Preferably, a video display is provided. The initial screen on the video display may include a plurality of selectable card games. The player may select one of the plurality of selectable card games for each of the card hand locations. Preferably, each hand is dealt from a separate deck of cards. Subsequent to betting and dealing all the hands, the player may hold and draw cards for each selected card game.
Optionally, after dealing all of the hands and prior to holding and drawing cards, a player may select at least one of the hands of cards for continued play (and abandon the other hands). Here, the player may move the bet from the nonselected hands to the selected one or more hands.
In an another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a card game is provided which includes the steps of providing a plurality of card hand locations, betting at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing a first hand of cards at a first of the card hand locations from a deck of cards, determining a mathematical value for the first hand of cards for each of a plurality of winning combinations, dealing hands of cards at all remaining card hand locations, determining a mathematical value for each hand at all remaining card hand locations for each of a plurality of winning combinations, assigning a potential award value to the first hand of cards for each type of winning combination, determining an award card factor for each type of winning combination in the first hand by multiplying the potential award value for each type of winning combination for the first hand of cards by the mathematical value for each type of winning combination for the first hand of cards, dividing the award card factor for each type of winning combination by the mathematical value for each type of winning combination associated with each remaining card hand location to determine a set of potential award values for each remaining card hand location which correspond to each type of winning combination, providing an award card table for each hand where the award card table lists the set of potential award values for each hand, and crediting the player in accordance with the award card table associated with the value of each hand played.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a card game is provided which includes the steps of providing a plurality of card hand locations, betting at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing a first hand of cards at a first of the card hand locations from a deck of cards, determining a mathematical value for the first hand of cards for each of a plurality of winning combinations, dealing hands of cards at all remaining card hand locations, determining a mathematical value for each hand at all remaining card hand locations for each of a plurality of winning combinations, and crediting in accordance with a pay table associated with the value of each hand played such that the mathematical value of the first hand multiplied by an award for each winning combination in the first hand is equal to the mathematical value of each remaining hand times an award for each winning combination.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a card game is provided which includes the steps of providing a video display, providing an initial screen that includes a plurality of selectable card games, providing a game screen that includes a plurality of hand locations, selecting one of the plurality of selectable card games for each of the card hand locations, bettting at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing a first hand of cards at a first of the card hand locations from a deck of cards, determining a mathematical value for the first hand of cards, dealing hands of cards at all remaining card hand locations, each hand having a mathematical value about equal to the mathematical value of the first hand, holding and drawing cards in accordance with each selected card game; and crediting the player in accordance with a pay table associated with the value of each hand played.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a card game is provided which includes the steps of providing a video display, providing an initial screen that includes a plurality of selectable card games, providing a game screen that includes a plurality of hand locations, selecting one of the plurality of selectable card games for each of the card hand locations, bettting at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing a first hand of cards at a first of the card hand locations from a deck of cards, determining a mathematical value for the first hand of cards for each of a plurality of winning combinations, dealing hands of cards at all remaining card hand locations, determining a mathematical value for each hand at all remaining card hand locations for each of a plurality of winning combinations, assigning a potential award value to the first hand of cards for each type of winning combination, determining an award card factor for each type of winning combination in the first hand by multiplying the potential award value for each type of winning combination for the first hand of cards by the mathematical value for each type of winning combination for the first hand of cards, dividing the award card factor for each type of winning combination by the mathematical value for each type of winning combination associated with each remaining card hand location to determine a set of potential award values for each remaining card hand location which correspond to each type of winning combination, providing an award card table for each hand, the award card table listing the set of potential award values for each hand; and crediting the player in accordance with the award card table associated with the value of each hand played.
In yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a card game is provided which includes the steps of providing a video display, providing an initial screen that includes a plurality of selectable card games, providing a game screen that includes a plurality of hand locations, selecting one of the plurality of selectable card games for each of the card hand locations, betting at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing a first hand of cards at a first of the card hand locations from a deck of cards, determining a mathematical value for the first hand of cards for each of a plurality of winning combinations, dealing hands of cards at all remaining card hand locations, determining a mathematical value for each hand at all remaining card hand locations for each of a plurality of winning combinations, and crediting in accordance with a pay table associated with the value of each hand played such that the mathematical value of the first hand multiplied by an award for each winning combination in the first hand is equal to the mathematical value of each remaining hand times an award for each winning combination.
Finally, in yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of playing a card game is provided which includes the step of providing a plurality of card hand locations, betting at least one credit at each of the card hand locations, dealing hands of cards at each card hand location, selecting at least one hand of cards for continued play, holding and drawing cards for each card game selected for continued play, and crediting the player in accordance with a pay table associated with the value of each hand played.